Freezer Meals: Part 2

So, you saw me make and prep all the different make ahead meals.  Now, it's time to eat!  We started with the lamb ragu which smelled too good to freeze.  The only step left to do was put it in the slow cooker for 10 hours.  Luckily for hubby and I, that is about the time we spend away at work.  Before I left, I turned the crock pot on, and hubby came home for lunch to take out Maui and stir the ragu.  When I got home, I gave it another stir and took Maui for a another walk.  The smell of the ragu cooking all day made the house smell delightful.

The ragu hanging out in the crock pot.

The lamb ragu is more like a sauce than a stand alone dish.  The recipe online suggested serving it with pasta, which I thought would be mighty delicious.  We decided to start the week off healthy, serving the ragu over stir fried vegetables.  The next day, hubby had the ragu over pasta while I met my dad for dinner in Dallas.  Then I had the remaining ragu over homemade pumpkin gnocchi... yes, I said homemade.  That night, hubby had the pumkin gnocchi with a maple goat cheese sauce I came up with on the spot.  The lamb ragu was delicious and had a slight sweetness from the wine.  It made a perfect sauce and accompaniment to the dishes it was paired with.

 The sauteed veggies were a delicious side for the ragu.

 Hubby bought a loaf of bread, which was perfect for soaking up the sauce.

Ok, I know you're curious about the pumpkin gnocchi.  I had made them once many years ago and lost the recipe.  When I had made them the first time, I don't think I had really ever eaten gnocchi, so I had nothing to compare them to.  Since then, I have eaten (and fallen in love with) gnocchi.  Gnocchi (and pasta in general) is fairly easy to make as far as ingredients go... just flour, egg, mashed potatoes (or pumkin or ricotta), and seasoning.  That's it!  I think these things are pretty easy to have on hand, especially if you used canned pumpkin.  The most difficult part of making pasta is having the right proportions, which depends on multiple factors.  I don't know the secret to this yet, but my trial and error hasn't been too bad. 

I got some guidance from an online recipe and started making the gnocchi.  In Cooks Illustrated, I had just read about the perfect pumpkin bread and how part of the secret is cooking the canned pumpkin a bit to remove any off flavors from the can.  I improvized (hubby says I am always tweaking recipes) and cooked the pumpkin a bit adding some creamy goat cheese to give it flavor and milk to add back any moisture lost in cooking.  Once I had my pumpkin ready, I began mixing together the other ingredients.  I ended up using more flour than this recipe called for, but my dough was still super sticky.  In the end, the pumpkin gnocchi was a hit.  The recipe made enough that I froze my leftover ones to be cooked up on another day.

Cooking the pumpkin for a little bit helped remove some of the tinny taste from the canned pumpkin.

Adding milk and creamy goat cheese restored moisture and added flavor.  I also added nutmeg and cinnamon here.

Mixing up the dough.

 Making the gnocchi took time.

I ate my gnocchi with the lamb ragu.

 Hubby ate his with a maple goat cheese sauce that almost made it taste like a cinnamon roll.